Unlike many more urban areas of the country, Taos is rural. Moreover, it is a vacation and resort home community as well. When I have buyers coming into town to view homes, it’s always important for me to let them know the rules. They aren’t my rules, but those of the marketplace and the MLS.

Most homes listed in the Taos real estate MLS require some type of appointment to show. This appointment needs to narrow down a time frame, with an hour or so being the best. Why the bother? There are a great many rental properties here, and whether the tenant is here for a short vacation or renting long term, they have certain rights under state law. One of those is the right to 24 hours notice for a showing of the home they’re renting.

If you live where a plane flight is required to get here, it’s likely that you’ll have laid out careful plans with a Realtor in advance. Nobody wants to waste the money for a flight and not get to see the homes on their list. However, problems frequently arise with buyers from Southern Colorado, Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Driving time is under a few hours, and many impulse decisions to visit are made.

If you decide on Saturday morning to drive to Taos for home visits on Saturday and/or Sunday, you could have a problem. Even if we assume your Realtor of choice is sitting waiting on your phone call, the showing appointments must be made with many other listing brokers. Those brokerages are usually either closed some of Saturday and all of Sunday, or they are short staffed.

Then there is the call to the seller to get the appointment if the home is owner occupied. They may not be home, and it could be Monday before you get the go-ahead for that Sunday showing. For rentals, pop same day showings are out of the question, and if you want to see homes on Sunday, it can be difficult to impossible to get tenants to answer their phone and confirm a showing the next day.

No discouragement intended. Just help your Realtor to get you the access you need by providing two or three days notice for setting those appointments. Of course, if you’re looking at vacant land, jump in the Jeep and we’ll take a nice drive in beautiful country!

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